Apparatus for rolling sheet metal



Aug. 17, 1937.

L. C. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL Filed Feb. 8, 1935 13Sheets-Sheet 1 Con veg n Ba n Furnace ?I EI ieder I [TH I QEMJ OpeningHa 7form I (archer I Hinged flai/brm 70 I 7/ ,/vz

I I 20 173 4 J 183 I 109 F1 TF1 ZZZ Ti g p, 170! J #79 80 185 77 X/m j A11' .13. ji .8.

g 3nnentor W6 u (Ittomeg Aug. 17, 1937. L. c. STEELE APPARATUS FORROLLING SHEET METAL Fiied Feb. 8

, 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 17; 1937. c. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLINGSHEET METAL Filed Feb. 8, 1955 15 Sheets-Sheet 3 Aug. 17, 1937. L. c.sTEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL l3 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 8,1935 v Ma Ma h Aug. 17, 1937. L. c. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEETMETAL Filed Feb. 8, 1935 m 7 m 3 3 9 1 3 7 3 U 1 a Flilln m m I mflliiivrtrll M M W "Fl 9 m a 1 M. O 1 y 4 w l m I .1 \2 1, V? V 5 3 1 1k 7 m 8 A Z 1 W 7 9 6 w 1 w mm m :4 1 1 I i 3 w H 1 0 W W (Ittorneg.

Aug. 17, 1937. c, STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL Filed Feb. 81935 13 Sheets-Sheet 6 I llllllllllll r||| 'llllllu r o t n e v n 3 Aug.17, 1937. L. c. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL 1:5Sheets-Sheet 7 ,Filed' Feb. 8, 1955 MM W1 5 FURL Q0 t E 1 i 1 attorneyAug. 17, 1937. L. c. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL Filed Feb.8, 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet 8 L. c. STEELE 2,090,463

APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL Filed Feb. 8, 1955 15 Sheets-Sheet 9S: 5 mt QM kw o o 0 Z 0 o o o 0 fllllll I! II I |||r|| I. III ILIIIIIlFlllll lllllllll llll Ill.

Snnentor (Ittornc;

L. C. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL Filed F' eb. 8, 1935 13Sheets-Sheet l0 7 Aug. 17, 1937. c. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEETMETAL 1935 1S Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed Feb. 8,

M QM MGM EM QQN Aug, 17, 19370 L Q STEELE ZJUQQfifiB APPARATUS FORROLLING SHEET METAL Filed Feb. 8, 1935. 13 Sheets-Sheet l2 Ennentordiam/*6. m

(Ittomeg L. C. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL Aug. 17, 1937.

Filed Feb. 8, 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet 1s (Itiorneg,

Patented Aug. 17, 1937 UNlTED OFFICE 25. claims.

, This invention relates to the art of rolling metal and especially tothe art of rolling sheets, sheet bars, tin plate and the like. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to a means and method for passingmetal in the form of sheet bars, sheet packs, sheets and the like,through, around and about the rolls of a roll stand with such speed,accuracy and certainty that the rate of production, the eificiency ofthe rolls and the quality of the product will all be greatly enhanced,while at the same time the cost of the rolling operations will begreatly reduced as compared to present practices.

The general object of my invention is the provision of a machine and amethod for feeding metal to the rolls of a roll stand rapidly,accurately and positively. I

Another object is the provision of a machine and method whereby themetal may be passed between the rolls, caught on the other side of therolls, and fed again between'the rolls with such rapidity that a greatnumber of passes of the metal can be made without reheating beingrequired.

Another object is to provide a method and machine whereby'a greaterweight of metal can be fed'to the rolls for each pass, so that a smallernumber of passes per ton of finished product will be required, therebyresulting in a longer tonnage life of the rolls and greater accuracy of30 the finished product, as well as substantial savings in heat, powerand lubricants.

Another object is to provide a machine in which the metal is accuratelyaligned before being, fed to the rolls, thereby insuring accuracy of thefinished product and minimizing the amount of scrap.

Another object is the provision of a substantially fool-proof machinehaving automatic pro- 40 tective devices whereby the machine isself-protected and cannot be injured.

Another object is the provision of a machine adapted automatically tomatch and align bars, sheets or other material and feed them to therolls 5 in the form of packs.

Another object is the provision of a machine which is'adapted to. handlesimultaneously pairs of bars, packs or sheets, and to feed such pairsthrough'the rolls in rapid succession whereby the rolls are utilized alarge percentage of the time.

Another object is the provision of a feeder and a catcher coordinatedtherewith in such manner that the catcher will always be ready toreceive sheets delivered from the roll stand and the feeder (on. 80-47)y will always be ready to receive sheets fed by the catcher back to thefeeder.

Various other objects and advantages of my invention will becomeapparent from the following description in which I describe a preferredform of my method and machine, reference being made to the accompanyingdrawings. It is to be understood, however, that the following detaileddescription is not to be construed as limiting my patent in any way, butis only given by way of an example both with respect to the machine andto the method. The scope and essential characteristics of my inventionare defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of an illustrativelayout of heating furnace, conveyor, rolls, feeder and catcher and thelike; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, illustrating therelative positions of the feeder, catcher and roll stand; Fig. 3! is aside elevational view of the feeder positioned in front of the rolls;Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the feeder takenadjacent to the center dog chain, as indicated by the line IV--IV ofFig. 5; Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section through the feeder; Fig..6 is a plan view partly in section, illustrating the conveyors andpushers of the feeder; Figs. 7 and 8 are side and end elevational views,respectively, of the side matching mechanism, the conveyer chains beingindicated diagrammatically in Fig. 8; Fig. 9 is a sectional view, on anenlarged scale, of the center dog chain and supporting guideway, takenon the line IX-IX of Fig. 6; Fig. 10 is a similar sectional view of thepushers, taken on theline X-X of Fig. 6; Fig. 11 is a detail sideelevation illustrating a sheet-retarding mechanism; Fig. 12 is a sideelevational view of the feeder driving mechanism; Fig. 13 is a verticalsectional view of the driving mechanism taken along the line XIIIXHI ofFig. 12; Fig. 14 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the linefiV-XEV of Fig. 12; Fig. 15 is a. transverse section on the line XV-XVof Fig. 6, showing the drive shaft.

for conveyor chains and center dog chains; Fig. 16 is an enlarged sideelevational view of the catcher, in position in back of the roll stand;Fig. 16A is'a plan view of the catcher, partially in section; Figs. 1'7and 18 are detailed side and end elevations, respectively, of anauxiliary feeding mechanism provided to insure the proper delivery ofthe sheets, packs or bars into the rolis, and Fig. 19 is a more or lessdiagrammatic elevation illustrating the manual control system.

Referring to the drawings, in Fig. 1, I have diagrammaticallyillustrated a layout of the several elements of a rolling mill in whichI prefer to practice and carry out my invention. Such a layout orarrangement is well adapted to rolling tin plate for example. If tinplate were to be rolled from the usual 8" sheet bars, a number of suchbars would be fed through the bar furnace at the left of the figure andwhen properly heated; would be conveyed preferably in pairs to thefeeder in front of the roll stand.

According to my method, the bars, sheets, or other materlalso deliveredto the feeder are squared up and. spaced from each other andsuccessively passed through the rolls to the catcher and returned to thefeeder for succeeding passes; one unit of material being passed throughthe rolls while the other unit is being returned to the front of therolls for a succeeding pass.

The feeder and catcher handle the material so rapidly and effectivelythat the bars are quickly transformed into sheets, are matched in thefeeder and passed thereafter as a pack through the rolls as many timesas desired and thereafter delivered by the catcher to the platformmarked Hinged platform", Opening platform" at the rear of the catcher. Iprefer that the platform sheets being so delivered onto the platform mayif further reduction in gauge is desired, the

be doubled in the"Doubler" and if necessary trimmed in the Shear,preferably located with relation to the platform as shown.

At this point in the manufacture of tin plate, forexample, thetwooriginal sheet bars will have been transformed into a four-ply doubledpack which may then be conveyed from the platform on the conveyor to therear of the furnace where the doubled pack is sent through the packfurnace for reheating to rolling temperature. While I have indicateddiagrammatically two furnaces, Icontemplate that a single furnace, whichmay be provided with parallel conveyors, one for handling packs andanother for handling sheet bars, may advantageously be employed. Ofcourse, the particular type of furnace forms no part of this invention.

As noted above, my feeder and catcher can handle a pair of sheet barssimultaneously to effect the rapid succession of passes of such bars.

The same is true of the ability of the feeder and catcher to handlepacks and. sheets. Thus to continue with the illustrative description of.the manufacture of tin plate, a pair .01v doubled fourply packs can beconveyedYrom the pack furnace tothe feeder, and as will hereinafter morefully 2, lifting the rolled material into contact with the conveyorchains ll which, by their coaction pack through the rolls. In thismanner, the two packs are quickly elongated by rapidly succeeding passesand may then be matched in the feeder for as many more passes as arefound desirable.

- Thereupon, the catcher will deliver the pair of matched, doubled packsto'the platform where,

matched packthen comprising the substance offour sheet bars and being aneight-ply pack may bedoubled'into a sixteen-ply pack, sheared and Such apack'along with a similar pack canagainbepassedthroughtherollsbythefoederand -case, I prefer to handle thebars, sheets or packs in pairs substantially throughout the rollingoperation in order to minimize the idle time, of the rolls andspeed upthe rolling operations. The packs having thus been reduced to tin plategauge may be removed, sheared, and opened or separated in the usualmanner.

While'the foregoing has dealt largely with the manufacture of tin plateby way of example, it will be seen that the above layout is adaptabletothe manufacture of sheets of various sizes and descriptions. However, inthe following description, I shall refer particularly to the manufactureof tin plate, because such manufacture presents extraordinary problemsand'is suitable to illustrate the distinct advantages of my invention.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings, I have somewhat diagrammatically illustrateda preferred embodiment of my apparatus insofar as the coaction be-,tween the feeder, the rolls, and the catcher,. and

the general construction of the feeder and the ported in the usualmanner on the roll stand 4. At the rear of the mill (to the right in thedrawing) I illustrate the catcher 5 which may follow in a general waythe teachings of my prior Patent No. 1487,819.

The feeder and the catcher will both be described in detail in laterpages of this specification. For the present it will 'sufflce to saythat the feeder l is preferably constructed as a movable unit which maybe advanced on suitable rails toward or away from the roll stand, bothfor the sake of adjustment andfor repair or replacement ofv the rollsand the like. Sheets, packs, bars, or bars'for breakdowns, or any othersuitable material (which will hereinafter be collectively referred to as"material") from the furnace are delivered'to the conveyor chains 1 andby means of mechanisms to be hereinafter described, are properly spaced,centered, squared up. and fed into the biteof the rolls.

The rolled'metal leaving the rolls as indicate by the arrow rocks theflag 0 of the catcher mg of the flag 8 to the position shown in Fig. 2,

establishes an electrical circuit which causes the carrier ill of thecatcher to rotate a'half revolu-' tion in a clockwise direction asviewedin Fig.1

with the carrier conveyor chains l2 deliver the material to theadditional conveyor chains Ila and II which lie over the top of the rollI and convey the material .to the left or from back to carrier arms ll.

. The material in its movement from the catcher to the feeder contactswith the dog or flag l5, raising it 'up as the material passes therebenea I and permitting it to drop as the trailing e e of the material isejected from the conveying chains of the catcher. This movement of theflag or dog II mechanically controls retarding devices indicatedgenerally at ll (Figs. 8 and 11) which are provided to prevent thematerial from traveling too far on the arms 14,

the feeder to redeliver the sheet through the rolls back to the catcher.It will further be seen that the reception by the catcher of thematerial from the feeder via the mill rolls initiates the operation ofthe catcher to deliver the material back to the feeder; the three majorelements of this combination, to-wit, feeder, catcher and rolls allbeing interdependent upon each other for the continued rolling andre-rolling of the sheets. Furthermore, as the feeder is provided withtwo sets of arms I4, one piece of material may be delivered to theconveyor and thence to the rolls, while another is being received fromthe catcher, thus making it possible to carry out my method by handlingmaterial, whether breakdowns, bars, sheets or packs, in pairs through-'out substantially the entire rolling operation.

In addition to the automatic controls mentioned above, various manualcontrols are provided and the mechanisms are provided with slipclutches, interlocking controls and other safety devices to preventdamage to the machine or to the material. Also, the catcher is providedwith means, controllable either automatically or manually, fordelivering material to the platform to the right of the catcher.

Conveying mechanism Referring now to the feeder perse and to Figs. 3 and4 of the drawings, it will be seen that the body of the feederpreferably comprises a base 20 provided with suitable upright supportingelements 2| all carried by car wheels 22 operating on the tracks 6. Amotor 23, along with suitable reduction gearing and driving mechanisms.all indicated generally at 24 and illustrated in greater detail in Figs.-12 to 14, inclusive, may be mounted on suitable castings 25 carried onthe base of the feeder.

The various mechanisms for horizontally con-' veying, centering andaligning the sheets, and for feeding them into the bite of the rolls areall driven by the longitudinally extending shaft 26, which in turn isdriven by the motor 23 through suitable worm reduction gearing 21, ashaft 28, bevel gearing 29, the downwardly-e20 tending shaft 30 (seeFigs. 12, 13 and 14), an bevel gearing 31 (see Figs. 3 and 6). I 1

The shaft 32, which drives the main conveyor chains, is journalled insuitable bearings in the frame base 20, as at 33, and has mounted on itapair of sprockets 34, a centrally located sprocket 35 and a bevel gear36 at one end, as indicated in Fig.45, which meshes with a bevel gear31, on

sprockets 34 and driven thereby are the main endless conveyor chains 1which also pass over a pair of sprockets 39 carried by studs 40 (Fig. 6)which are elevated above and longitudinally ofisetfrom the shaft 32.

The chains 1 in passing over the sprockets '39 are elevated thereby, andfrom ,that point are inclined downwardly toward the mill rolls at anangle preferably less than that at which gravity will cause the materialconveyed thereon to slip with relation thereto. Adjacent the mill rollsthe conveyor chains 1 pass over a pair of sprockets 6! carried by theshaft 42 which in turn is suitably journaled and supported by theextension frame 43 of the feeder. As shown in Fig. 4, means are providedfor taking up the slack in the conveyor chains 1 by suitable adjustingmechanism 44. a)

The main conveyor chains 1 convey new material from the forward end ofthe feeder through the feeder to a point adjacent the mill rolls, wheresheets of sumcient length will be fed directly into the rolls by theseconveyor chains. Pieces of insufficient length will be aided in theirmovement toward the mill rolls by other means to be presently described.Since the conveyor chains 1 can only force the material into the rollsup to the limit of the static friction between the chains and the sheetsor plates, other means to be presently described are provided for mak-.

ing certain that the material is fed between the rolls. In normaloperation of the feeder, I prefer that the conveyor chains 1 be drivensomewhat faster than the surface speed of the mill rolls. Means areprovided, however, for independently varying the speeds of the feeder,rolls, and catcher in order to operate properly under differentconditions.

Turning now to the means hereinbefore referred to for aiding themovement of the material to the rolls and for supplementing the actionof the main conveyor chains, I provide two independently operable means;the first comprising a pair of pushers 56 lying on opposite sides of themedian plane of the feeder and between the conveyor chains 1 (see Fig.6) and each pusher having a pair .of longitudinally-spaced movable dogs5| (see Figs. 4 and 10), each pivotally supported as at 52 (see Fig. 10)and so balanced that a square surface .53 is presented to such sheets ormaterials as lie to the right of the pusher dogs as shown in Fig. 4, butwhich are depressible by the weight of a sheet should the sheet overrunthe pusher dogs or be placed on top of them.

Each pusher is moved longitudinally of the feeder in a reciprocatingmotion through links 54 which are pivotally connected to rock arms 55carried by rock shaft' 56 extending transverse gear drive 63, fromthlongitudinally extendingshaft 26. The rotary motion of the crank arm 59is transferred into reciprocating motion of the pushers through thelinkage described, the crank I arm being driven through a one-revolutionclutch 6| of any suitable well-known construction, which is preferablyactuated in timed relationship with the movement of the feeder mechanismby means of the cam 62 and cam follower 63 (Fig. 4), link 64, bell crank65 and links 66 and 61. by mechanism to be hereinafter described.

The pushers, being laterally spaced from each The clutch may also beengaged manually These pushers are particularly intended for upmovirigrelatively short sheets or sheet bars into the roll pass inasmuch assheet bars, for example, may be of such little longitudinal dimensionthat they might otherwise come to rest after having gone beyond .the endof the main conveyor chains 1.

Since the pusher dogs are depressible by sheets or bars which tend tooverrun them when being carried by the main-conveyor chains or otheradvancing mechanism at a higher speed than the pushers, their slowermovement makes them available to urge material into the rolls, and alsoprovides that'the pushers never interfere with any other function of thefeeder.

- Referring particularly to Fig.v 10, each of the pushers 50 slides upona slotted guide 88 along the surface 69, and eachpusher has a dependingpart III lying inthe slot of the guide 'with an enlarged head 'II whichkeeps the pushers from locking with relation tothe guide. Each guide isattached to a part of the main base 28 of the .frame structure bysuitable means, such as a cap screw 12 as shown. Referring to Fig. 4,the pushing faces 58 are seen spaced from each other in their extremeposition of travel towards the mill rolls.' It is to benoted that thelength of the stroke of the pusher is preferably greater than thelongitudinal distance between the pushing' faces 53 of the respectivepushers so that it would be impossible for a sheet bar, for exam- 49pie, to overlie the leading pushers, and not be pushed by one pusher orthe other in the course of succeeding strokes.

The linkage for reciprocating the pushers is such that a modified simpleharmonic motion I will result so that the pushers obtain a maximum speedin about mid-stroke and zero speed, of course, at the ends of thestrokes. To make my feeder particularly adaptable for feeding sheet barsin rolling tin plate, I preferably so arrange 50 the stroke of thepusher with relation to the pass between the rolls that the sheet barwould be advanced rapidly towards the'rolls during the middle ofthepusher stroke, but would be slowed down to substantially roll surfacespeed as the bar entered the bite of the rolls.

By such an arrangement, it will also be seen that the sheet bar wouldencounter the resistance of the rolls only at about the end of thepusher stroke so that slippage of the friction clutch 88 ,co in thepusher driving connection will be kept at a minimum.

' The'third means for advancing material into the rolls comprises acentrally positioned dog chain 18 (see Figs. 4 and 6) driven by thesprocket 85 on the main conveyor drive shaft 82 and driven through thefriction slip clutch 48 (see Fig. 15) This sprocket, I prefer to makeslightly smaller than the sprockets 34 which drive the main conveyorchains I, so that the dog chain 18 will move a little less rapidly thanthe main conveyor chains. The centrally disposed dog chain 13, as may beseen in Fig. 4, passes over sprockets l4 and 15, and positioned so thatthe path of .the dog chain in between the sprockets I4 and I5 issubstantially parallel to the path of the main conveyor chain 1, alb'eitthe dog chain itself is somewhat-lower than the: exposed surface of themain chains]. After passing the sprocket 15, the chain is directeddownwardly around a forwardly-disposed sprocket l6, thence back to thedriving sprocket 85. The forward sprocket I6 is carried on a smallsub-frame 11 illustrated in Fig. 4, which is secured to ,the main frame20 of the feeder. The sprocket I6 is slidably arranged on the-sub-frameand movable forwardly by the adjusting screw I8 to adjust the tension inthe chain.

At spaced intervals along the dog chain," are pivotally connected dogs19 (see also Eigril),

' H and 15 on an inverted T-shaped track 8| having a flanged base 82,the flanges of which are engaged bythe trailing edges of the dogs.-After the'dogs progress beyond the idling sprocket 14, the shape of thetrack is altered so that the dogs may attain a more upright position,presenting a face disposed at substantially right angles to the chain.The faces 88 of the several dogs taking the position shown between thesprockets I4 and 15 are adapted to engage the trailingedges I of thesheets, bars and the like, and aid them in their progress toward themill rolls. Since the dog chain travels at a slower, speed than theconveyor chains 1, it is not to be expected that the dogs would engagethe material unless it is delayed inits progress toward the rolls as,for example, by operation of' the side matching mechanism or by othermeans yet to be described. By reason of the downward deflection of thedog chain after it passes the sprocket 15, the dogs are graduallyremoved from the path of the material so that there is no danger of thedogs catching on and bending the rear edges of the sheets or bars.The'dog chain may be stopped without damaging the material by reason ofthe slip clutch l5.

In order to insure that the front edges of the sheets, packs, bars, orother material are properly fed into the bite of the rolls, I haveprovided a mechanism particularly shown in Figs. 4, 17 and 1-8, which isadapted to engage material having forward edges which have curledupwardly away from the conveyor chains.

This mechanism comprises a pair of spaced chains which travel in thedirection indicated by the arrow in Fig. 18 and thus are adapted toproperly guide the material downwardly into engagement with the conveyorchains and the toe plate 88, and thence into the bite of the rolls. Thechains are preferably supported on sprockets 8I and 88 carried bytransversely-extending shafts 88 and suitably iournaled in the feederframe. The shaft 89 is driven from the shaft 82 which supports theforwarcl main conveyor chain sprockets ll through gears and 82 and chain88, shaft 88 and chain 88 having the necessary sprockets associatedtherewith.

The conveying mechanism is alsoprovided with guides comprising bars 88which are adapted to engage the end of any material overhanging theouter ends of the rotary supports ll so as to urge any such m'aterialonto the arms II as they are moved downwardly to insure properposiaccuses tioning of the material onthe conveyor, the forward end ofthe material always being deposited on the main conveyor chains behindor to the left as shown in the drawings, of the guiding chains 85 andthe bars 96.

Side matching plates In order to align or match a plurality of sheetswith respect to each other as well as to align or center a single sheetor several sheets with respect to the mill rolls, I have'provided side'matching or aligning mechanism, a preferred form of which isillustrated particularly in Figs. 3, 7 and 8. This mechanism maycomprise a pair of oppositely-disposed side plates 9i secured todepending arms Qt which are pivotally suspended as at 99 from brackets wll which may be suitably supported from the feeder super-structure.

When sheets or other material indicated diagrammatically at S aredeposited on the conveyor chains l, (the chains being indicateddiagrammatically in Fig. 8) the matching plates 9? are moved inwardlyfrom opposite sides of the feeder and caused to engage sharply thelateral edges of the sheet or sheets to align or match them.

In order to actuate the side matching plates, the depending arms 98 areeach provided with bell crank arms lill to which are connected cables W2and We. The cable (Hi2 is connected directly to the pulley or sheaveiild, while the cable 183 is also connected thereto but is passed overintermediate sheaves its and tilt. Rotation of the pulley lilo willcause the cables to pull down on the arms Hill and thus swing thematching plates into engagement with the sheets on the conveyor, asshown in dotted lines in- Fig. 8. In order to adjust the action of thematching plates, turnbuckles it? are provided for changing the lengthsof the cables M92 and its. The pulley MM is rotated for a fraction of arevolution bythe shait through suitable reduction gearing it, (Figs. 3and 6), shaft 26", and an intermittently engageable friction clutch Theclutch is automatically engaged in timed relationship with the carriermechanism by means of ,a cam which raises and lowers a lever Hit, whichin turn. is connected to the clutch actuating mechanism by means oi therod iii and the bell crank lever M2 (see 3). A cable M3 is also securedto the hell crank M2 and is extended to the right for connection to amanual control, to he described, and the rod M l is provided with a lostmotion connection 3 M in order to allow the manual control device to beactuated at any time.

The cam surface is designed so that during every complete revolution oithe cam or every half revolution of the carrier mechanism, the clutchwill be engaged to rotate the pulley iiid momentarily in the directionindicated hy the arrow on Fig. 8 and quickly pull the matching platestoward each other; and, as will he seen from the size and shape of thecam, the clutch is thereafter released and the plates are permitted tomove apart to release the sheets whose edges have been engagedand thusto permit continued movement of the sheets toward the mill rolls. Thearms 98 and the plates 97! are balanced so that the plates normally hangaway from the edges of the sheets.

Spacing and aligning mechanism As previously pointed out, the feeder isadapted to handle material in pairs. and in order to insure that theseparate pieces of material will be properly spaced from each other aswell as to properly align and match the material in.

a longitudinal direction, I have provided an automatically and manuallycontrolled spacing and aligning mechanism, illustrated particularly inFigs. 4 and. 19.

This mechanism preferably comprises two pairs of hooks H5 and H6disposed at the rear and front ends respectively of the main conveyorchains i. These hooks are supported on rock shafts ill! and lit,respectively, and rocking movement of the shafts moves the hooks out ofand into the path of the material carried by the conveying chains, asindicated by the dotted line positions of the hooks as shown in thedrawings. The rock shafts ill and l l or are both operated through alongitudinally-extending rod H9 and suitable bell crank levers H20 and629.

A spring 122 in engagement with the rod and the frame of the machineconstantly urges the hooks to their upper position where theyare'disposedin the path of movement of material on the conveyor chains.The rod is also provided with a dog lit which is engageable by a latch82 so that the hooks may be retained in their lower position,

ment of the hooks by engagement with the cam follower t3 which isconnected to the downwardly-extending tension member to which functionsthrough hell crank lever 02s and lost-motion connection lit to move therod M9 to the left as shown in the drawings, thus depressing the hooks.

As previously described, this linkage, except-tor rod Mil, controls theengagement of the pusher clutch iii (Fig. a). so that the pushers areactu= ated immediately after the hooks are depressed. spring it? (Fig.19) is employed to maintain the cam i'ollower always in engagement withthe cam.

The hooks are released from their depressed position Toy the action ofthecarn on the cam follower which, through asultable system of leversand rods, as shown in the drawings, is adapted to downwardly on the endor the latch 12 i beyond the pivot lit, thus causing the latch to herelemed from its engagement with the dog H23 and allowing the hooks tobe raised into the path oi the material by the option-oi the H22. l Thehooks M and lit and the latch .625, may be manually controlled eitherfrom the end of the feeder through the pedals [18d and l respectively(see Figs. ii and i9) and suitable. linkage tilt and till, respectively,or by the pedals E32 and W3, respectively, which are mounted in thefloor of the control pulpit P adjacent to the roll stand, throughsuitable bell crank levers and cables i332 and i333, respectively. Thepedals tilt and i352 also operate the pusher clutch ti through theinterconnections above described, and through the levers cc, to and or,while the side matching plates may be actuated bypedal ltd, through hellcrank i3 5 and cable ll3,-as shown in Fig. 19.

In operation, the hooks are employed'to space properly the pairs ofsheets, bars, or packs in their travel through the rolls, and, as thehooks are laterally spaced, they function to assist in obtaining properaugment oi material with respect to the axis of the rolls.Furthermdre,-the

hooks and particularly the hooks I I5 may be employed in matchingplates, bars or packs on the conveyor, forthe hooks may engage theforward 6 edges of all the layers of material in a pack while the rearedges are being engaged by the dogs of the dog chain, thus accuratelyaligning the various plies of material in'the pack with respect tb eachother. I

Rotary carrier mechanism As stated above, I preferably provide therotary carrier mechanism, indicated generally at I8, for receiving thematerial delivered from the catcher 15 over the top of the rolls and fortransferring such material to the conveying and feeding mechanism justdescribed.

As shown particularly in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the material delivered fromthe catcher to the feeder 2 is deposited on the carrier arms I4 and bydownarms I4 and I4 extend substantially tangential to the are describedby the webs I35. It will be noted that considerable space is leftbetween the 35 shaft (I38 and the upper surface of the arms I4, as

shown in.Fig. 4, so that long sheets being delivered from the catcher tothe arms I4 may lie thereon and extend through the space between.

the arms and the shaft and beyond theends of .40 the arms or to theleft, as illustrated in the drawings. In order to support such longsheets, I have I provided a guide member comprising a series of platesI" which slope downwardly at an angle toward the conveyor and rolls, andwhich are spaced to allow the passage of the arms I4 be tween them.These plates form an adequate supdle sheets or other materials which arematerially I i 50 longer than the over-all length of the'arms I4.

The main carrier shaft I, is journalled at its ends (see Figs. 4 and 5)in upstanding portions of the frame structure, and is driven by the maindriving motor through the gear trains and 55 clutches illustrated in-Figs. 12 to 14, inclusive, to which detailed reference will hereinafter bemade;

7 -When a sheet is depositedbnone of the pair of h the conveyor chainsas close as possible to "the arms I4 and I4 and when'its trailing edgehas 00 leftgthe catcher and allowed the flag or ,dog I5 to drop (seeFigs. 2 and 3), an electrical circuit is established which rotates thecarrier IB in a clockwise direction, and provision is made, as willhereinafter appear, that the carrier rotate 05 exactly 180 so that thearms..I4' assume the.

positionfrom'which the arms I4 have just departed. The arms in theirdownward rotary motion follow the arc I39 in the direction of the arrowshown in Fig. 4, and pass within the lateral 70 confines of the mainconveyor chains I (see Fig.

'5), and through appropriate slots in the main base 20, and in theirpassing laterally encompass the'pushers 50 and the dogchain.

-, As-I propose-to effect a rotation of 180' of the 75 carrier II in avery short time,.the accel ration The carrier arms and deceleration ofthe carrier must necessarily be great. In order to reduce the shocks andjars .and resulting wear and tear on the mechanism to a minimum andfurther to deposit the sheets from the arms I 4,onto the conveyor chainsin 5 such a manner as to avoid bouncing of the sheets, I have providedthe hydraulic check mechanism illustrated particularly in Figs. 4 and 6.This mechanism may comprise ,a double-acting hydraulic cylinder I40 andhaving a piston I which is connected to a pair of cams or dogs I42 *1and I43 through a rack and pinion mechanism indicated at I44 andarranged so that movement of the dog I42 in one direction causes thepiston to move in the same direction and the dog I 43 to 16 move in theopposite direction. Movement of the piston is resisted by the flow offluid from one end of the cylinder I40 to the other, through the conduitI45. The amount of resistance may be varied by adjusting valve I46.

The cams or dogs I42,and I43 are laterally spaced apart and are engagedby correspondingly spaced cams I41 and I48 carried on the periphery of.one of the webs I 35. As shown in Fig. 4, the cam I41 has just engagedand passed the cam I42 to check the motion of the rotary carrier as thearm I4 approached position for receiving material from the catcher. Thisaction has moved the cam I42 to the left, as shown in the drawings andcaused the cam I43 to move to the right into the position shown, whereit is ready to be engaged by the cam I48 to slow down the movement ofthe carrier as the arm I4 swings downwardly and approaches position fordelivering the material to the conveyor chains. Thus, the hydraulic'check and shock absorber mechanism assists in stopping the carrier inposition to recelve material from the catcher and momentarily retardsthe carrier as the material is being delivered onto the conveyor chains.Similar dogs are provided-on the opposite side of one of the webs I35 tosimilarly retard the carrier as the arms I4 approach correspondingpositions.

Sheet retarding mechanism As the sheets, packs, bars'or other materialare delivered with considerable velocity from the conveyor chains II andII of the catcher onto the rotatable arms I4, I have found it preferableto provide a mechanism for preventing themate- 50 rial from'sliding toofar onto the arms or to the left as shown in the drawings. r

This mechanism which is illustrated particu o larly in Figs. 3, 4 and 11is especially useful in conjunction with sheet bars such as the sheetbar 8 g illustrated in Fig. 3, as it functions to stop the motion of thebars adjacent to, the outer ends of the arms I4, and thus the bars aredelivered to rolls thereby eliminating excessive travel and so speedingup the operation of the machine.

As illustrated in the drawings, the mechanism comprises a series ofpairs of depending levers I'I pivoted at their upper ends as at I50,-and-balahead so as to hang in the path of the material delivered fromthe conveyor to the arms I 4. In

' the position shown inFlgs. 3 and 4, the bars are to the left as shownin the drawings. The locking action of the segmental members iscontrolled by means of the flag I5 through the rod I55, the pivotedlever I56, link I51, bell crank I58 and link I59 so that when the dog orflag I5 is raised by the passage of material from the catcher to thefeeder the link I59 will be moved to the right, thus rotating thesegmental members in a clockwise material is passing under the dog I5thus holding it in raised position, the depending levers I1 are free toswing out of the path of the material and merely exert a frictionalretarding action thereon. However, as soon as the rear end of thematerial has passed the dog I5 it will drop, thus allowing the segmentalmembers to swing downwardly into locking position and positively lockingthose levers I1 which have not already been raised by the passage ofthe'material. A lost-motion connection is provided between the link I59and the segmental members by means of the pins I68 secured to the linkand the slots I6I in the segmental members so that link I59 may be movedto the left, and any lever I1 which has not been deflected by thepassage of material therebeneath may be locked even if members to theright of it have been raised by'the passage of the material as shown inFig. 11.

By this arrangement, the retarding mechanism may merely have africtional effect on long sheetswhich slide onto the arms I l andperhaps onto the supporting bars I38 while shorter bars, packs or sheetswill be stopped as soon as their rear edges have passed beyond the flagI5. However, the trailing edges of the material will always lie on thearms I I, for the flag I5 overlies the ends of the arms I4, as shown inFig. 3.

Thus, all of the material .will be deposited on the arms I4 with itsouter end closely adjacent the ends of the arms It and the material,regardless ,of its length, will be deposited on the conveyor chains atsubstantially uniform" distances from the rolls. This eliminates lostmotion in feeding the material to the rolls and makes possible rapid anduniform action of the feeder regardless of the length of the materialbeing fed to the rolls.

In order to prevent material from being delivered from the catcher whenthe arms I i are not in position to receive it, I have provided the hookmember I62 which is pivoted on the frame of the catcher as at I63 (seeFig. 2). The hook is balanced so that the end portion I64 will bepositioned in the path of material being delivered by the chains II andI3, except when it is depressed by engagement with the cam surfaces I65on the ends of the arms I4 and It (see Fig. 3). Thus there is nopossibility of material being discharged from the catcher except whenthe feeder is ready to receive it.

Driving. mechanism As previously pointed out and as shown partic- Qularly in Figs. 12 to 14, inclusive, motor 23 drives also driven by themotor 23 through the worm reduction gearing, shaft 28 and pinion I61which meshes with gear I68 mounted on sleeve I69 through a friction slipclutch I10, of any ordinary type. The sleeve I69 in turn drives aconcentric shaft I1I through a jaw clutch I 12,.'and the main shaft I36of the rotary carrier mechanism is driven by pinion I13 keyed to shaftHI and meshing with gear I14 keyed to the shaft I36.

The starting and stopping of the rotary carrier mechanism is controlledby the jaw clutch I12 which is engaged by the action of the solenoidI15. When the solenoid I15 is energized, the link I16 is raised, thusswingingthe lever I11 about its pivot and pulling the pins I18 and I19downwardly out of engagement with the notch I88 and the cam groove I8 I,respectively, in the periphery of the clutch member I12. 9

The disengagement of the pins I18 and I19 allows the clutch member I12to be moved to the right, as shown in Fig. 13, by the spring I 83, thuspermitting engagement of the respective driving jaws J of the clutch. Assoon as the shaft I'II starts to rotate, the solenoid I15 isde-energized by reason of the actuation of the switch I9I from the camI69 through the bell crank lever III] and the link I92 (see Fig. 3).This action allows the pins to move upwardly so that the end of the pinI18 rests on the periphery I84 of the clutch member I12, being heldthereagainst by the spring I85. In thisposition, the roller I86 on theend of the pin I19 lies partly within the groove I8I, and when the shaftI'II makes a complete revolution the cam surface I81 engages the rollerI86 and thus causes the clutch member I12 to be moved to the left, asshown in the drawings, against the action of the spring I83, thusdisengaging the clutch. At the time the clutch is disengaged the pin I18is forced upwardly into the notch I86, thus stopping the shaft in adefinite position. In order to reduce the shocks incident to stoppingthe shaft and the rotary carrier mechanism and in addition to thehydraulic check mechanism, previously described, the pins I18 and I19are pivotally mounted on a shaft I88 and are held against rotation bymeans of a link I89 which is connected to the spring shock absorbingmechanism I96.

In the embodiment shown, the shaft I1I makes two revolutions for eachrevolution of the rotary carrier I8, and thus each time the solenoid I15is energized the mechanism just described will permit one completerevolution of the shaft III and therefore a one-half revolution of therotary carrier mechanism.

The solenoid I15 may be energized to start the operation of the ferriswheelby means of manu ally controlled switches, not shown, disposed atthe rear end of the machine and also on the pulpit. The automaticoperation of the solenoid is controlled by the flag I5 (Fig. 3), throughthe link I55 and lever I56 which actuates the switch 93.

The flag, as previously described, is actuated by Catcher mechanismReferring to Figs. 16 and 16A, it will be seen that the catchercomprises a suitable wheeled base adapted to run on track rails, so thatthe catcher maybe readily moved into and out of operative positionrelative to the rolls 2and 3. Upright supporting housings or casings 266and NI, enclosing driving mechanism, are mounted on the base at thesides thereof, and a horizontal cross shaft 262 is suitably journalledin the eas-

